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An artist who has created a new mural in East Lothian is hoping to ‘get locals talking’.
The impressive artwork has appeared on Station Road in Musselburgh. The artist, who goes by Tragic O’Hara, told Edinburgh Live he was brought in to create a backdrop for a new events space and farmers market that will be opening.
He’s hoping people will ‘do a double take’ when they pass by, and be curious to find out more. He reckons it will take six full days to complete the mural.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Tragic told us: “It’s going to be a farmers market with events and loads of different things happening there. The mural is a backdrop that we hope will be really impactful.
“We wanted something that was going to make people do a double take, and would make people start talking about the fact that something was happening there We spoke about doing something based on wildlife, but kind of out there.
“The frog playing the bass for example, is because there will be music events there at some point.”
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This isn’t his first mural, and he admits there are new challenges that come with every creation. Tragic continued: “The most challenging aspects of taking on a mural can vary. It depends on the size of the thing. A lot of times, what I want to paint is different from what others want.
“So what you’re trying to do is find a way to make something work. Usually if I’m painting big stuff there’s a community aspect behind it.
“People don’t like change. So what happens is people can meet it almost with hostility until they start to see the thing come together and then it changes.
“It’s trying to marry up what someone else wants to what you think is the best, and the thing that’s going to look good.”
Tragic is hoping this creation has a good impact on the local community, and admits he’s already felt a positive reaction from residents. He told us: “Loads of people were stopping and talking to me.
“I’ve had messages from people asking f they can come along and take photographs. You don’t want to walk away from a thing and think that everybody hates it – though it’s never happened yet, thank Christ.”
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He reckons the full mural will take ‘maybe a week’ to complete. He added: “So far I’ve spent one full day lining the whole thing up, and three days painting it, but it will take longer.
“It will probably take closer to another six days, maybe a week to complete the whole thing. It can feel really like you’re not getting anywhere, but it’s because you’re spending so much time on individual parts that while you’re working through it.
“Instead of just painting things like painting a picture from a book the thing that I’m getting to do is paint these kind of surreal scenes, but they’re really bright and stuff like that, And fortunately, it’s been something I’ve really enjoyed painting so far and the reaction’s been really positive which is all you can ask for!”
